Chapter 72
by Afuhfuihgs
Chapter 72
From Cosmic Rascal to Professor.
Episode 72: Celestine Incident- Bay No. 3 (2).
Zelnya was utterly defeated.
She rolled on the ground, her mind reeling from the shock. She didn’t want to understand what had happened, let alone accept it. How could she, a descendant of Adelwein, be reduced to this state?
“Did you really think that a fake constellation could pierce my scales? How foolish.”
Mayrem’s voice taunted her internally.
“This… this is humiliating,” Zelnya muttered. Even her previous defeat to a bird named Rustila hadn’t felt this demeaning. Back then, she hadn’t relied on the constellation. She had believed that deploying the artificial constellation would grant her victory over the incarnate.
“Let me give you a piece of advice.”
Mayrem said, flicking her tongue menacingly as she approached.
“Every being must always remain humble. Arrogance only brings disaster. Just like now.”
“Shut up.” Zelnya spat, her mouth tasting of tangy, salty blood. She pushed herself up and gripped her sword tighter. “What are you saying, you lackey of the Outer Gods?”
Her sword, filled with ether, glowed a brilliant blue as she surged forward like a relentless wave.
“Foolish.”
With a swift movement, Mayrem swung her tail, striking Zelnya squarely in the torso. Thrown off balance, Zelnya crashed into the wall, a pitiful groan echoing through the space.
“From the moment you entered my domain, it was over for you, girl”
A ringing filled Zelnya’s ears. She barely lifted her head, the words of Mayrem piercing through the haze.
Fool.
You are not the chosen one.
Know your place.
‘No.’ She thought. Everyone hailed her as a genius, without exception. Despite her misfortunes, she was seen as a chosen one. Her talent surpassed ordinary bounds, seemingly too vast to be confined within the galaxy itself. That’s how she had managed to survive, adapting with the help of an artificial constellation.
“In every field, in every corner of the world, there are prodigies. Isn’t that right, young lady?”
“Your advice is useless.” Zelnya snapped back.
“I understand. Change is difficult for mortals. And when they do change, the price is often…”
She paused, her mouth opening.
“…paid with their lives.”
Zelnya felt a chill as a pair of sharp, gold-plated fangs crept closer. Panic gripped her. If she remained frozen, death was certain.
“Ugh, ugh!” She struggled to rise, but her body refused to cooperate. Her arm throbbed painfully, and her abdomen tingled. Before her, a gigantic snake opened its maw wide, and Zelnya’s artificial constellation offered no protection for her psyche. It lacked a “soul.”
A distant look crossed Zelnya’s face. ‘I don’t want to die.’ Her life flashed before her eyes—the praise from family over her talents, the charged atmosphere in the lab after the successful implantation of the artificial constellation, the flustered face of a teacher overwhelmed by her questions, a perfect score on a test, the memory of besting a mischievous classmate in an after-school scuffle. And then, Aidel. Why was he in her thoughts now?
‘Know humility,’ a voice echoed in her mind, seemingly from nowhere. She didn’t understand why it came to her, nor did she want to. All she desired was to live. Yet, the harsh reality before her was unbearable. Desperate to escape it, Zelnya shut her eyes tightly.
Thus, she missed it. The golden-toothed snake that was about to devour her instead had its head cleaved off, tumbling toward the horizon.
“…Huh?” When she dared to open her eyes a crack, she saw a caliper lodged in front of the incarnate’s face.
We arrived at Bay 3 to find it besieged. Iron serpents, their metallic coils gleaming ominously, were attacking students with indiscriminate ferocity. The venom, a sinister extension of the serpents’ incarnate bodies, was spreading a slow paralysis through the victims’ veins.
“We must locate and eliminate the incarnate body swiftly to halt the venom,” Instructor Isaac instructed. Heeding his command, we advanced with urgency.
“Divide our forces across the first to ninth floors to combat the creatures. Kizel, Aidel, and I will ascend to the top floor.”
“Why the top floor?” I asked.
“I sense a potent surge of madness emanating from above,” Isaac explained.
Yet, upon reaching the 10th floor, we were met with an eerie silence and emptiness.
“Something isn’t right here,” Kizel murmured.
“Are you certain we’re in the correct place?” Isaac’s voice faltered slightly, and Kizel’s expression grew tense. Meanwhile, my attention was drawn to a peculiar detail on the elevator button.
“Instructor, take a look at this.”
He examined my discovery. “This is a depiction of a snake biting its own tail.”
“It’s known as the Ouroboros, representing eternal cycles and wholeness,” I added, trying to decipher its relevance.
I paused, organizing my thoughts according to the pattern drawn on the first floor.
Beep.
“We’ll start on the first floor initially.” I began, pressing the elevator button for the fourth floor.
“What’s next?”
“Next, the second floor, then the eighth, fifth, and seventh floors.” I continued, pressing the buttons for the third, sixth, and ninth floors in succession.
A sound of something opening echoed faintly.
“You’re trying to find a secret passage, right? What’s the principle behind it?” Kizel inquired.
“1-4-2-8-5-7. This sequence repeats when you express 1/7 as a decimal. When arranged in a circle, it forms the ‘Hexad’ model from numerology, symbolizing infinite cycles.”
“Ah, I see…”
“And 3-6-9, when laid out in a circle, forms an equilateral triangle. Isn’t the equilateral triangle considered a symbol of perfection?”
“So?”
“Now it’s all set. We just need to press the button for the 10th floor.” I reached for the 10th-floor button but halted abruptly, a chill running down my spine. Instead of pressing it, I withdrew my calipers.
“That is!”
“It’s a gift from my girlfriend.”
The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is flustered.
Crash! I slammed the 10th-floor button with my tool.
“What are you doing!” Kizel and Isaac exclaimed in unison.
“There was a faint aura of Outer God energy. Pressing it normally could have been disastrous.”
“We knew that too. But still! How could you just break the button?” Kizel and Isaac sighed, shaking their heads as they murmured to each other. Meanwhile, the elevator chimed ominously.
11th floor
The doors slid open to reveal a damp, dimly lit space. A snake with golden teeth was poised menacingly near a silver-haired girl who lay collapsed and powerless. It was Zelnya.
Damn, if she stayed like that, she’d be devoured. Even though she turns into a villain later, I couldn’t bear the thought of letting her die before she had even done anything wrong.
Isaac finished his whispered conference with Kizel and peered cautiously beyond the elevator’s threshold.
“They’re deploying the
“Void Space?” I asked, puzzled.
“It’s a sealed dimension used by some incarnates,” Isaac explained. “None of us should step in here. If we make a mistake, there’s no escaping, even if we manage to defeat the incarnate.”
“Do you mean we have to kill it from a distance?” I asked.
Isaac nodded solemnly. “Aidel, I’ll imbue your weapon with holy power. Give it a good throw when you’re ready.”
“Understood.”
The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ sees through ‘Isaac Clark’s’ ploy and chuckles softly.
I knew Isaac’s strategy well, and despite understanding it, I decided to play along.
I hurled the calipers, now glowing with Omega-grade holy power, with all my strength. Once released, it soared through the air, its trajectory illuminated by starlight, homing in on its target—the core of the incarnate.
The calipers, charged with Isaac’s holy power and reinforced by the mental prowess of the Outer god, sliced through the air with lethal precision. In an instant, it severed the neck of Mayrem, the Incarnate known as the ‘Golden Snake.’
A notification flashed before my eyes:
You have defeated the Incarnate
You have gained 90,000 Prons!
You have gained an additional 10,000 Prons as a cooperation bonus!
Just as we had anticipated, the core was indeed hidden within the neck.
The effects of
Thank goodness it wasn’t too late. I hurried over to Zelnya.
[Zelnya von Adelwein: 480/1000]
[Mental state]
Afraid of death. Experiencing confusion in her values.
Her score was 480. Just 20 points shy of 500. She was dangerously close to ending up like Ceti.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“You…” Zelnya muttered, struggling to focus as she picked up the calipers. I noticed a bite mark on her right arm.
“Did you get bitten?”
“None of your business,” she snapped, slowly standing. Her balance was off; her mental strength had clearly taken a hit.
“Do you need help?”
“No, I don’t.” She brushed off my hand and staggered forward. I sighed and scanned the ground, noticing a pure white scarf lying there.
“Hey, you dropped your scarf.”
“Oh.” She turned, a look of dismay crossing her face. For a moment, the artificial stigma on her neck was visible. It resembled more of a scar than a stigma, a sore point for Zelnya, who always strove for perfection. It was the reason she wore scarves all year round.
“Give it back! Ah!” In her haste, Zelnya tripped and fell right in front of me. Weakened, she clung to me like a lifeline, collapsing into my arms.
Her shoulders shook slightly. After a moment, she seemed to run out of energy and went limp, finally speaking in a low voice.
“…You saw it.” I wrapped the scarf around her neck as she bowed her head in shame.
“Let’s go back.”
I supported Zelnya, keeping her close as we walked. Just then, Isaac and Kizel appeared, heading in our direction.
Isaac spotted Zelnya leaning on me and couldn’t resist teasing.
“Aidel, have you switched ladies already?”
“Don’t start with that, Instructor.”
“You’re quite the charmer, aren’t you?” Isaac chuckled, unlike Kizel who stood by, rigid and aloof. When Kizel caught my gaze, he quickly looked away, his indifference palpable.
“Looks like your friend could use some help. Why not carry her for a while?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Isn’t it uncomfortable in that suit? You might want to change into something more relaxed now that the work is done.” I nodded, stripping down to a plain T-shirt.
“What are you doing!” Zelnya exclaimed, clearly flustered as I effortlessly scooped her into my arms.
“Let me down! Put me down right now!” Zelnya squirmed like a fish out of water before finally going still.
“This is humiliating,” she muttered, her eyes glistening in the reflection of the elevator mirror, her face half-hidden against my shoulder.
“You’re quite light. What, around 43kg? Ouch!” She bit my shoulder hard.
We settled the details as the elevator descended.
“There are many injured, but no fatalities.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“Indeed,” Aidel and Kizel nodded, then cleared their throats. “Kizel, Enabet, escort these two downstairs. I’ll handle the cleanup here and meet you in the lobby. The rest of the team should continue searching for Bay 4.”
“Yes, sir!”
“With Naier here, I’m less concerned, but still, stay alert,” Isaac added with a sigh. I entered the orbital elevator with Zelnya, still clinging to my back, under the watchful eyes of the inspectors.
After a stretch of silence, Zelnya finally spoke.
“Consider yourself lucky.”
“What?”
“This practical exam… If it hadn’t been for this attack, I would have crushed you.”
“Zelnya,” I sighed, “we almost died. Is that really what you’re thinking about now?”
“Being top of the class is a big deal. Don’t you realize this exam determines our semester rankings?”
“Who cares about rankings?”
“What?”
“Why are you so obsessed with being first?” I asked. In response, Zelnya bit my shoulder three times. Seriously, I thought I was going to end up with bruises.
“You’re only saying that because you’re in the first place right now.”
“Okay, maybe I was wrong to dismiss it so lightly.” I conceded, hoping to end the argument. But I felt compelled to add just one more thing.
“You did your best.” It was something I had never heard before. Everyone always said, “You’re the best. You’re number one,” focusing solely on the outcome. It was the first time someone praised the effort.
Zelnya felt a mix of emotions. Her heart began to pound unexpectedly.
“You must be humble.” The words of the Incarnation echoed once more in her head. What does it mean to be humble? It was a topic she had never considered before.
Zelnya had never bowed down. When she fought with others, she was always right and the others wrong. Because she believed that winners were always right.
‘Yes, I was wrong.’ So Zelnya couldn’t understand why Aidel would apologize. Why admit fault and create a scene? It was irritating. She wanted to argue, but she lacked the energy. Instead, she bit Aidel’s shoulder lightly, the only act of rebellion she could muster. When annoyed, Zelnya had a habit of biting or tearing at something.
“Ugh.”
“What?”
“It’s nothing.” Her heart ached. It seemed like the poison still lingered.
“Just in case, let’s go to the hospital. If we go to where my parents are, we can get treated cheaply.” Her heart thumped painfully as if being pricked by a needle.
At that moment, as Zelnya gritted her teeth, the orbital elevator arrived at the lobby.
And then.
“Aidel?” She heard the voice of an annoying girl.
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